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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. The museum has ________________ figures of famous people.
  2. The ball hit the back of the ________________.
  3. False peace will not ________________.
  4. The ________________ of 'teacher' is 'teach'.
  5. The coach helped Matthew straighten out his golf ________________, improving his game.
  6. What was your ________________ profit last year?
  7. He's quite ________________, isn't he?
  8. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  9. At ________________, we arrived at the village.
  10. What's the best way to remove ear ________________?
  11. Today is the ________________ day of the holidays. Back to school tomorrow!
  12. I would like to propose a ________________ on your birthday.
  13. In jazz, ________________ was gradually being replaced by bebop.
  14. David sat on the ________________.
  15. After the show, she was the ________________ of the town.
  16. I like lots of butter on my ________________ in the morning.
  17. The ________________ of a dandelion is edible, too.
  18. The moon will ________________ and wane.
  19. He took the fish out of the ________________.
  20. We need to address the ________________ of the problem.
  21. This knife is not ________________ enough.
  22. It's one o'clock ________________.
  23. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  24. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wax — for sculpting
  2. net — in sport
  3. last — to go on
  4. root — of a word
  5. swing — in golf
  6. net — after costs
  7. sharp — clever
  8. field — farmland
  9. last — finally
  10. wax — in the ear
  11. last — final
  12. toast — a drink to someone
  13. swing — music
  14. swing — to play on
  15. toast — the most admired
  16. toast — bread
  17. root — of a plant
  18. wax — to grow
  19. net — for catching
  20. root — the cause
  21. sharp — with an edge
  22. sharp — exactly
  23. field — for sport
  24. field — a subject

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com